


The Opera Ghost and the Noseless Teddy Bear

by Mertens



Category: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra | Phantom of the Opera & Related Fandoms, Le Fantôme de l'Opéra | Phantom of the Opera - Gaston Leroux, Phantom - Susan Kay, Phantom of the Opera - Lloyd Webber
Genre: First Meetings, Gen, Meet-Cute, based on an outline by Mazen which was based on a drawing by me, teddy bear, those weren’t a thing back then but pretend ok
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-16
Updated: 2020-06-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:47:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24748591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mertens/pseuds/Mertens
Summary: A chance meeting in a toy store sparked by a stuffed bear with no nose.
Relationships: Christine Daaé & Erik | Phantom of the Opera, Christine Daaé/Erik | Phantom of the Opera
Comments: 33
Kudos: 100





	The Opera Ghost and the Noseless Teddy Bear

Errands were a necessary evil. If he had his way, he would simply never leave the cellars of the opera house. But alas, they were groceries he could not steal from the kitchens (the simpletons who ran the place had no idea what was a good or bad tea, and insisted on stocking some terrible stuff instead of anything halfway decent) and there were managers to blackmail and paper and ink to buy (Don Juan Triumphant was nearly finished, he’d swear it was so, despite being ‘nearly finished’ for almost a decade now), so on occasion he found need to travel in the garish outdoors with the rest of humanity who scorned him so. 

He tried desperately to mind his own business, pointedly ignoring the boy on the corner selling newspapers, avoiding eye contact at all costs. He merely needed a new inkwell (his cat, Ayesha, had knocked his previous one to the ground, and though it had ruined a very large rug, he could never stay mad at his darling for long), and intended to buy it and head straight back to his abode. 

Upon happenstance he glanced in the window of a toy store and saw a shelf full of stuffed - if one could stretch the imagination - bears, which held only a vague resemblance to the actual creature. Erik mused for a moment on how mediocrity seemed to reign these days, and tutted a little under his breath when he suddenly stopped. A certain bear in particular had caught his eye. 

Unlike its little battalion of chums which surrounded it, this poor fellow was missing its button nose. 

Erik scoffed at the sight, narrowing his eyes. _Disgusting_. Didn’t anyone know how to do their job anymore? He straightened his jacket and walked on, but he found he couldn’t quite put the incident behind him. 

Once at his destination, he selected the inkwell of his choice and paid for it without looking at the cashier, but his mind wandered ever to the horrible little plush beast back on the shelf. He pitied the poor unsuspecting child who would end up with that hollow eyed, vacant faced bear - it would surely ruin the child’s day, if not entire year! 

Ah, but no one would buy that hideous beast, he was certain of this. He fumed to himself about it as he exited the store with his ink. No one would want that terrible bear! And quite right they were to not want it - it was highly defective, a mockery of everything it should be. Why, it should be- should be thrown in a fire! 

By the time Erik had returned to the toy store, he couldn’t even tell what, exactly, was riling him up - that someone might buy the toy? That it might languish on the shelf forever? All he knew was that he had to buy it. He was uncertain, also, of what he would do once he had taken the damned thing home - would he fashion a little mask for the poor thing? Would he put it out of its cruel misery? He wouldn’t know until the very moment he did it, he supposed. All that truly mattered was _buying that bear_. 

Christine Daaé was on a shopping trip with her guardian, Mamma Valerius. She loved her Mamma, she truly did, but there were only so many pairs of stockings she could watch her guardian consider before she lost interest entirely. Luckily the old woman sensed Christine’s boredom, and paused in her shopping to turn to her. 

“Here, Christine,” she dug into her change purse and handed Christine a small amount of money. “I want you to take this, my dear - a celebration gift! And I want you to go pick out and buy something just for yourself!”

“Oh, Mamma - do you mean it?” Christine took the money reluctantly, swearing to herself that she’d pay her back in the future. 

“Of course!” she beamed at her, waving her off. “Now go find something lovely!”

Christine thanked her and went off to search for something, and Valerius leaned in to examine two pairs of stockings, adjusting her glasses. 

“Now,” she asked the shop girl. “Which was dark blue and which was black, again?”

The shop girl watched with envy as Christine left. 

Christine smiled to herself as she clutched the money tightly in her hand, searching high and low in the store for something to purchase. She certainly had reason to celebrate - after years of hard work she had recently earned a spot in the chorus of the Paris Opera! After her Papa had died, and then Professor Valerius, she had thought for a long time that she’d never sing again, but with her Mamma’s gentle yet steadfast encouragement, she had managed to not only sing but to successfully audition. She knew she’d need a tutor if she ever hoped to gain a solo role, but for now she was beyond pleased and proud of what she had accomplished. 

Finding nothing in the store, she decided to take a quick trip outside and see what the neighboring stores had to offer. She would be unchaperoned, but Mamma never seemed to mind terribly, and neither did Christine. 

She almost made a beeline for the candy shop across the street, but she stopped when her attention was caught by the toy store. She hesitated, biting her lip, then went inside. 

As a little girl all of her toys had been homemade, as her Papa had had a hard enough time providing food for them. As such, toy stores fascinated her. She looked at each offering with wide eyes, and finally stopped in front of the teddy bears with a small gasp. 

How adorable! How precious! Utterly angelic. 

She had to have one. 

She picked one up shyly, admiring their soft fur and shiny eyes. She was much too old for such novelties, she knew, but who here in the store could truly say what she was going to do with it? For all they knew, it was going to a little cousin or niece. If this bear just happened to end up next to her pillow on her bed on the flat she shared with Mamma, who would really know? Who could judge her for settling him next to Dindy, her plush cat, and Eliza, the little heart shaped pillow she’d stitched a face onto, because who could ever find this out? 

She was about to take the bear up to the register and pay when she noticed that one of the other bears was missing a nose. Her brow knitted. No nose! Poor little dear. 

She silently apologized to the bear she had in her hands as she put him back on the shelf, picking up the one with no nose instead. That lovely bear would have someone to take it home soon, she was certain, but this bear _needed_ her. She hugged him to her just slightly and knew she’d made the right choice. 

She turned around, intended to pay for him when she had to stop short - there was a tall man standing just behind her, his hands on his hips and a scowl on his face - or at least, what was visible of his face beneath the large white mask he wore. 

“E-excuse me, monsieur,” she stuttered, her heart pounding, and tried to step around him, but he attempted to snatch the bear from her arms and she gave a little shriek. 

“Give me that bear,” he demanded and held out his hand. 

“No, this one is mine!” she held onto it tighter, noting distantly that his voice caused goosebumps to rise in her arms... or maybe that was just fear. 

He stamped his foot and huffed. 

“Insolent girl - you can have any one of the other bears here, but _this_ one is _mine_.”

“I saw him first!” her eyes darted around and she came dangerously close to pouting - who was this awful man accosting her over a bear? She longed for Mamma Valerius and her no-nonsense method of jabbing at over-eager men with her cane until they left them alone. 

“You saw him-!” the man sputtered then drew and hand over his face with a harsh sigh as Christine glared at him. 

“It appears it has escaped your attention,” the man drawled, gesturing a spindly gloved finger at the bear’s face. “But this bear is _defective_. You may have any normal bear you wish, but not this one.”

She loosened her hold on her bear just slightly. A brief thought of amazement passed through her head at how anyone’s hands could be so thin. 

“Well, what are you going to do with him?” she hesitated. Perhaps this man truly did want the bear more. 

“I’m going to throw it in the fireplace where it’s hideousness will never blight anyone’s sight again!” he snapped. “It’s an aberration to be destroyed!”

Christine gasped and pulled back. 

“You can’t! He’s mine!”

“Come now, child - see reason! What do you want this loathsome thing for, anyway?” he scoffed, his eyes glinting cruelly. 

Christine looked at her bear, frowning. 

“I don’t think he’s loathsome, I love him...”

“He is... _defective_ ,” the man said slowly, as though he were considering. “Why would anyone pick this one when there are so many perfect bears instead?”

“He’s flawed, yes - oh, but that only makes him all the more precious, don’t you see?” she said eagerly. “I don’t care that he’s not perfect, he’s perfect to me!”

The man blinked hard, frowning. 

“He is the farthest thing from perfect. He’s disgusting - a creature with no nose! A freak of nature! He’ll traumatize anyone who gazes upon him!”

Christine looked up at the change in the man’s tone. He seemed to be having some sort of personal problem, judging by how close he sounded to crying and how harshly he was insisting that the bear was horrible. Her eyes searched his face - his _masked_ face - and suddenly she thought she understood. 

“Oh,” she said gently. “Oh.”

“You’re truly going to buy this?” He sounded almost pleading now, as though he desperately hoped that she would buy it after all. 

“Yes,” she nodded firmly. “Because he deserves love too, just like any other bear. No matter what he looks like.”

Erik rubbed at his face. Perhaps he should let her buy it, after all. 

“Let me pay for it,” he said, his voice betraying the tears he was biting back. “I’ll buy it for you.”

“Monsieur!” Christine squealed, scandalized. “I can pay for him myself, I assure you! Besides, I don’t even know you!”

“Well, introduce yourself, then,” he waved a hand in an impatient gesture. 

Christine stared, open mouthed. This was a man who was not used to conversing with women, she could tell. 

“That’s _highly_ inappropriate,” she hissed, her face turning red. 

She pushed past him and marched to the counter to pay. 

Erik hung around nearby, hoping to catch part of their conversation. The clerk smiled and made small talk, asking Christine what the bear was for, and she looked embarrassed at the question. 

“It’s a bit of a gift to myself, you see,” she told the woman. “I just got accepted to the Paris Opera chorus, and I had to celebrate just a little!”

Erik was dumbstruck. Opera? _His_ opera? Was this the new girl, then? He had missed the auditions, entirely consumed with his own composing to the point that he hadn’t realized what day it even was. Then that must mean she was- 

He stopped her on her way out of the store. 

“Are you Christine Daaé?”

Her face turned red again. 

“How-“

“You’re the new chorus girl. I’ve heard about you.”

“Do you work at the opera, monsieur?”

He raised an eyebrow. 

“As a matter of fact, I do,” he tried to quickly change the subject. “Is a stuffed bear really your idea of a celebration?”

She ducked her head shyly. 

“Well, I was going to buy some chocolate, but my Mamma only gave me so much money...”

“Is that so?” he mused, and rustled his hand in his jacket pocket before holding out what appeared to be two or three single franc notes. “My congratulations to you on your new job. Take this and pick whatever you like at the chocolatier. I... I believe we shall be seeing more of each other soon.”

She hesitated a moment, torn between not wanting to take money from a strange man and not wanting to offend someone who likely might be a director or even manager of her new workplace. She finally reached out and took it. 

“Thank you very much, monsieur,” she said gratefully. 

“The pleasure was all mine, Christine.”

Something about the way he said her name sent a pleasant shiver down her spine. 

“Do you have a name for the bear, yet?” he asked suddenly. 

“No, not yet.”

“I feel ‘Erik’ is quite a good name, don’t you think?” he said as he turned to walk the opposite direction down the sidewalk. 

She felt unreasonably flustered by all of this, and turned to go find Mamma Valerius in the previous store. She had luckily finished her shopping, and Christine told her all about the mysterious man who had given her money for chocolate. 

“Well, we must do as the good man said!” Mamma smiled, and they went to the chocolate store. 

It wasn’t until Christine pulled the notes out to pay for a bag of caramels and a box of chocolate drops that she realized he had purposely wrapped a single franc note around a fifty franc note. She stared with horror and amazement at it in her trembling hand. Had he really meant-? She never would have taken had she known! But that must have been why he’d done it. 

She stayed up late that night, far past her usual bedtime, sitting on her bed and chewing meditatively on a caramel while stroking the soft fur of little Erik the bear’s noseless face and wondering about her strange new benefactor. She hoped she would see him again, and soon. She had to thank him, after all.


End file.
